UN, Muammar Gaddafi

September 24, 2009

Fifty two years after India's then UN Ambassador Krishna Menon gave the longest speech in the general assembly lasting nine hours to defend his country's stand on Kashmir, the issue still remains fodder for the international body. Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, whose rant lasted six times the stipulated 15 minutes, spoke of Kashmir as an independent country which neither India nor Pakistan should control.

The reference to Kashmir sounded completely random and disjointed to anything else before or after. Perhaps it was lost in the translation as Gaddafi's interpreter seemed exhausted. Kashmir appeared as suddenly as it disappeared. The colonel, who was addressing the UN general assembly for the first time, wanted to pack every thought that may have crossed his mind in the last 40 years.

If you discount the substance of his diatribe Gaddafi was quite entertaining. Not many might agree with me on this but I thought he was onto something when he demanded $7.7 trillion from the former colonial occupiers of Africa. The figure may be debatable but the underlying principle is not all that absurd.

It was obvious that Gaddafi was speaking at will since his notes were all jumbled up. To me the most hilarious moment came at the end of his speech when one of his flunkies came to the podium to gather up the notes. For a moment I thought the aide might also gather up Gaddafi's exuberant robe. The dour-faced aide looked so bored.